We lock away innocent young refugees
It’s well past time to fix this matter of national disgrace, write Trish Moran and Carol Bristow
OUR friend’s name is Khaled (feel free to substitute the name of your son, daughter, grandchild or any young person you hold dear).
Khaled left his home in Afghanistan at the age of 17. His father and brother had been killed by Taliban forces and his grieving mother sent him away because she knew his chances of survival were slim and she loved him as every mother loves her child.
Khaled travelled by various means to Indonesia, where he joined thousands of asylum seekers seeking a new life. He was persuaded by some older Afghanis to buy a ticket on a people-smuggling boat and risk the dangerous trip to Australia. He arrived wet, seasick and hungry at Christmas Island in July, 2013, just as Australia’s government made the decision not to allow asylum seekers arriving by boat to live in Australia.
Along with other young men, Khaled has now spent seven years living in places of detention in Papua New Guinea. He has witnessed brutality, suicides, mental illness and he has lost hope of ever having an education, a job or the chance to make choices about his life. Every day he wonders what will become of him. He is 24, youth is passing.
In Australia, the median jail sentence in 2019 for criminal offences was 2½ years. These offences include homicide, robbery, and dangerous and negligent acts. For people aged 18-21 and under, courts will generally prefer sentencing options other than detention. Khaled has been deprived of his freedom for seven years — since he was 17 — with no parole on the horizon. His crime: seeking safety.
Most people have heard about the young Tamil family who fled persecution in Sri Lanka only to be, as their staunch advocate Angela Fredericks says, “torn from their home” in Biloela, Queensland, two years ago.
They are now the only refugees detained on Christmas Island. Priya, Nades and their two little girls are sorely missed by their Aussie neighbours and friends in Biloela, one of the many patches of kindness in Australia where refugees are welcome. Our government wants to send this family back, even though Sri Lanka is a very dangerous place for Tamils forced to return.
Then there are people like our friend Hassan who fled from Iran ahead of arrest for his opposition to the repressive authoritarian government. He has refugee status; placed in community detention, he cannot get a permanent visa. Nevertheless he now has a circle of family and loving friends in Australia and runs a successful small business. He pays taxes but, like all others in his situation, has no access to government support — one of those who have been left behind during
the COVID-19 crisis. Many are relying on charity to survive.
All of these people are decent, capable individuals. Although their lives since their arrival have been disrupted by constant uncertainty and officially sanctioned cruelty, they persevere and try to stay upbeat. The closest that most of us will ever come to this was three months of pandemic isolation. If the pandemic has shown us anything, it is that health and wellbeing are not individual matters.
About 1700 innocent people are in detention, in Australia or offshore. This system was set up in 2013 in a divisive political climate. It is time for the government to admit the system is causing more harm than good. It is an intolerable stain on our national pride.
As Moz, detained in overcrowded conditions inside the Preston Mantra Hotel with no access to sunlight and fresh air, says: “People want to forget us but we are family, we were born to respect and help each other”. Those who believe Moz is right include the Tassie Nannas and the Refugee Rights Action Group, and many more in pockets of kindness around the country.
Australia’s refugee policy is an international, national and local concern.
If you would like to step forward on this issue please contact our federal members of parliament and let them know how you feel.
The Tasmanian Refugee Rights Action Group and the Tassie Nannas both have Facebook pages. To protect the two men in this article, we have not used their real names.